Azerbaijan is committed to the negotiating process to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, based on the principles of international law and particularly within the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, the head of the press service of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, Hikmet Hajiyev said.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman also said that the negotiations have been going on for over 20 years, adding that Azerbaijan declared at a meeting of the UN General Assembly that it is engaged in this process, but bears in mind its right under the UN Charter’s Article 51, the right to individual or collective self-defense.
“We still consider that the opportunities for the peaceful resolution of the conflict are not exhausted,” Trend cited Hajiyev's remarks during an episode of the program ‘This Week in Focus’.
He added that Armenia, which is experiencing political, economic, demographic and other kinds of crises, should think about its future.
“And they should think about their future in the isolated situation having the problems and claims with almost all their neighbors,” Hajiyev stressed.
According to Hajiyev, Azerbaijan continues to support the opinion that all the members of the OSCE Minsk Group should contribute to the negotiating process and take an active part in it. And the issue is not about changing the format of the Minsk Group.
"Within the existing format, the co-chairs should double their efforts to push forward and particularly to implement the agreements and arrangements that the sides already have in the negotiating process," he explained.
The most important element is now the comprehensive peace agreement. Baku has started to establish a working group on different aspects of the peace agreement, Hajiyev said.
Armenia tries to conduct a destructive policy in the negotiating process, Hajiyev believes. Therefore, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should bring the message to Yerevan about the need for it to take a constructive stance in the negotiations.
